* Basically we could not have peace, or an atmosphere in which peace could grow, unless we recognized the rights of individual human beings... their importance, their dignity... and agreed that was the basic thing that had to be accepted throughout the world.  -- Eleanor Roosevelt Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

* Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them.  -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Four Freedoms Speech, 6 January 1941

* No man is above the law and no man below it.  -- Theodore Roosevelt

It is often easier to become outraged by injustice half a world away than by oppression and discrimination half a block from home. 
-- Carl T. Rowan

* The indigenous peoples understand that they have to recover their cultural identity, or to live it if they have already recovered it. They also understand that this is not a favor or a concession, but simply their natural right to be recognized as belonging to a culture that is distinct from the Western culture, a culture in which they have to live their own faith. -- Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia

* In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness. -- Carl Sagan

* Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the opressor. -- Ginetta Sagan

* "I want my child to walk in a world guided by love. This means that everybody will have a job, or the resources to take care of basic needs. A world where families are not oppressed and are connected to their neighbors and their communities, where the best in humanity is honored. That's when we will truly be at peace." -- Malika Sanders

" The evolution of the human rights movement clearly illustrates humanity's ongoing struggle toward creating a better world." -- Robert Alan Silverstein

* Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign. ... You must weep that your own government, at present, seems blind to this truth. -- Mother Teresa

* The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - This great and inspiring instrument was born of an increased sense of responsibility by the international community for the promotion and protection of man’s basic rights and freedoms. The world has come to a clear realization of the fact that freedom, justice and world peace can only be assured through the international promotion and protection of these rights and freedoms.  -- U Thant, Third United Nations Secretary-General, 1961-1971 Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves. ~ U Thant

I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master.  I want the full menu of rights.  -- Bishop Desmond Tutu * "It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. And never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant." -- Bishop Desmond Tutu

 

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Human Rights Quotes

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